The Curse of the Osirians

House of Discovery

Layla's POV

"More eggs anyone?" Trudy asked at breakfast the next morning.

"Yes, me please," Fabian spoke up.

"Did you hear about Victor? He fell down the stairs last night and broke his leg," Patricia informed everyone as Nina and I shared a look.

"Don't exaggerate, Patricia." Trudy scolded.

"EggzAggerate! Nice one, Trudes," Alfie laughed.

"Terrible yoke, Alfie," Jerome added as he winked at me. I flushed and glanced down at my plate. I wasn't used to people winking at me and didn't know whether that was just a thing friends did or whether that meant maybe more?

"It's a sprained ankle that's all," Trudy said.

"A very painful sprained ankle," Victor said as he suddenly walked into the room.

"Victor! How do you do that? And with a limp too!" Trudy cried out in surprise, clearly startled.

"Someone sabotaged that floorboard on purpose," Victor accused.

"Oh no. That floorboard's been like that for ages. I remember telling you about it last year," Trudy told him as I squeezed Nina's hand under the table.

"Yeah, that's right, I've tripped over it myself a few times," Fabian chimed in, clearly fibbing for our sake, but it was greatly appreciated.

"Someone is up to something. And I intend to find out what it is. And who," Victor stated as he glanced around at the table before leaving.

*****

"Victor is onto us and I don't think we should go up to the attic again for a while," Fabian muttered as the three of us walked down the hallway to class.

"We have to. That key opens something, Fabian. I don't know what it is, but I know I want to know," Nina said as I skipped along next to them. I loved a good mystery, I just never thought I would get to potentially solve one!

"You know, for someone so sweet and polite, you're quite a risk-taker," Fabian commented.

"It's a recent development, but I'm loving it," I told him as Nina frowned at me before choosing to ignore my comment.

"Only when it's worth the risk. Victor knows the key is missing, we heard him talking to Trudy last night. So we won't have much time to use it," she said instead.

*****

"Quick, hide me!" I hissed at Jerome as I rushed over to him. I had spotted Brandon walking into the house for the party and I didn't want to have yet another run in with him. He was still refusing to call me anything other than Juliet, and I in turn was refusing to talk to him until he decided to use my actual name.

"What are you hiding from exactly?" Jerome asked as he stared at me confused as I ducked next to him and used him as a human shield.

"Brandon of course! He keeps calling me his Juliet for some stupid reason! I mean what is up with that? And he's been following me everywhere in the hallways at school. It's getting really annoying, I keep having to find different routes to class, though I guess I'm starting to get the layout of Hogwarts now, glad there's no moving staircases!" I whispered to him as I glanced over his shoulder to see Brandon and his friends surveying the room.

"Again with the Potter references," Jerome said, though I noticed he didn't seem to mind that I was using him as a human shield. In fact, I think I even saw him subtly look over his shoulder and reposition himself to block me better.